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China takes anti-terror law with decryption obligation for companies

Dec

29

2015

The Chinese government has adopted a new anti-terror law. Through this law, telecom operators and internet companies committed to assisting the authorities. They have to help with the decryption of data.

In the new law is that “telcos and ISPs should provide technical assistance and cooperation on security departments to prevent and investigate terrorist activities” according to Xinhua news agency. According to The Wall Street Journal, companies are worried about this legislation because of the unspecified wording of ‘technical assistance’. In any case, the companies are required to assist with the decryption of data if the government demands it of them.

The previous version of the law was received with protests from companies and eventually led to contact between US President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This is because the previous bill obliging companies to both save the local data when opening up their encryption methods to the authorities. This obligation to install backdoors is no longer in the new law taking effect by January 1, 2016.

Internet communication and the relationship to terrorism has become an increasingly dominant theme in governments worldwide. In France there after the attacks in Paris by the police insisted on banning public hotspots and the Tor network. In the Netherlands, legislation on encryption and traffic on the table. The legislative proposal Computer Crime III there was even talk of a decryption duty for suspects, but which was removed in the current version.